英语论文网

Dreiser’s father became indifferent  and impatient,  his  mother Sarah  Schanab  was  always  kind  and  gentle.  Because  of  this,  Dreiser’s  initial perception of women was sweet and warm. In his memory, his mother used to have a sweet and loving smile on her face and had a very patient and tolerant heart towards everybody. However, Dreiser’s sisters didn’t copy their mother’s example. His three sisters didn’t care about marriage and work and were only interested in dressing up and  pleasing  men.  Their  profligate  life  brought  trouble  to  Dreiser  and  left  a  hurtful impression on him. So, Dreiser had the respectful affection for women because of his mother, the pitiful feeling towards women because of his sisters.

..........................

1.2 About Jennie Gerhardt

As one of Dreiser’s early works, Jennie Gerhardt is as critical as his other novels. It was  created  in  the  1880s  when  American  society  developed  rapidly  under  the influence  of  industrialization,  and  people’s living standards  were  greatly  improved. However,  at  the  same  time,  the  relationship  between  people  became  more complicated  than  ever  before.  In  his  writing,  Dreiser  focused  on  the  description  of various characters and common people’s social lives. His description is very detailed, and  full  of  realist  color.  In  Dreiser’s  works,  we  can  easily  find  the  tragedies  of women characters which are mainly caused by the pressure of patriarchal society, as well as the women’s own spiritual problems. It can be said that Jennie Gerhardt is based on Dreiser’s personal experiences with his parents and siblings, because many similar events related to his family can be found in this novel.

Many characters in Jennie Gerhardt have their archetype figures in Dreiser’s real life. Jennie’s father William Gerhardt is very similar to Dreiser’s father. Both of them are German immigrants who are extremely stubborn and conservative. They both tend to exert  their  paternal  authority  to  make  their  children  obey.  Jennie’s  mother,  like Dreiser’s  mother,  is  a  gentle  and  kind  woman  who  always  brings  warmth  to  her children. The similarities between the two mothers lie in the fact that they are both influenced  by  the  ideology  of  patriarchy  and  have  no  independent  personality  and self-consciousness but submit to their husbands.

...............................

Chapter Two   Theoretical Framework and Methodology

2.1 Theoretical Framework

Ecofeminism  emerged  in  the  1970s,  being  the  result  of  Western  ecofeminists’ reflection  on  natural  ecology  and&nbs本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。